Tesco's new crisp flavour is totally unacceptable

The beauty of crisps is there’s no flavour that doesn’t work.

When you’ve got a neutral potato disc (related: how about a petition to rename crisps ‘neutral potato discs’?), any combination can be a success. Yes, even in a gourmet crisp sandwich.

Salt and vinegar? Ideal. Cheese and onion? Works a treat. Chicken and thyme? Not what we’d have come up with ourselves, but it does the trick. Lime and black pepper? Why not? Candy cane? Now wait a second.

Yes, Tesco is genuinely adding ‘Candy cane flavoured’ crisps to its high-end ‘Finest’ range. It’s a Christmas miracle, on the same level as mulled Baileys.

We sort of get the concept. Sweet and salty popcorn has grown in popularity of late, so adding a sugary twist to a traditionally savoury food isn’t a terrible idea in and of itself.

According to Tesco themselves, the new creation takes the form of “Hand cooked crisps seasoned and dusted with a sweet peppermint flavouring for a sweet and salty taste experience”.

Hand cooked crisps: good.

Sweet and salty taste experience: good.

Peppermint: WHAT?

The response has been mixed, ranging from ‘absolutely not’ to ‘ABSOLUTELY NOT’.

The combination of sweet and savoury can work, of course. Millionaire’s Bacon looks absolutely delicious, while there’s plenty to be said for these fried chicken doughnuts.

There’s always a cut-off point, though. The stage at which we as a populace must put our collective foot down and say ‘No! This is too far’. If we allow candy cane crisps to be normalised, it’s a slippery slope to god knows what.

I’d still probably try one, though. Y’know, just to be absolutely sure.

(Images: Tesco)